Miss Sasaki hangs her head low in silence. She doesn’t say another word after that. With her naturally delicate features coupled together with the porcelain skin, she reminds me of a marionette doll whose strings have been cut. Actually, her own experience isn’t too much different. As if her thread of life had been cut, she was almost killed by an unidentified serial killer for who knows why, and her life could still very well be in danger.
“You even allowed me to stay at your home last night…”
……Hmm?
“Hold on. Where did you stay last night?”
“My place,” Dazai nonchalantly replies.
…………
…………Are things like this the norm nowadays?
“Thank you so much, Mr. Dazai. You… You were very…kind to me last night…”
Miss Sasaki flushes bashfully for some reason.
“What’s wrong, Kunikida? You’ve got a really weird look on your face.”
“Dazai… Don’t you think that’s taking things a little too fast?”
“I… I was the one who asked him to let me stay over. I basically forced him.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I simply did what any gentleman would. Besides, I’m used to getting asked for things from people I’ve just met,” he replies with a smile.
…………
I have no interest in frivolous love affairs. Two people must have mutual respect for each other when building a relationship. If you ask me, an unplanned single night of fleeting passion is unforgivable and shameless. So—therefore—for this reason alone, it doesn’t matter how popular a fool like Dazai may be, because I am not the least bit jealous or frustrated.
Not the least bit jealous!
“What a beautiful, misfortunate woman,” Dazai says with a smirk. We’ve returned to the office to prepare for our next investigation.
“So that’s your type?”
“I like all types of women. They’re the bearers of all human life, a source of mystery. But I do like the fact that Miss Sasaki would probably kill herself with me if I asked.”
“Go marry a cicada or something, then.”
Relations between the sexes must be pure and strong. The only feminine company I intend to keep will be with my ideal spouse, where we complement and lift each other up, and I will be with her until the day I draw my last breath. That is my ideal. It’s also written in my notebook.
“What about you, Kunikida? What do you think of Miss Sasaki?”
“She’s a victim and a witness to the case. That’s all.”
“I’m asking only because I can’t even begin to imagine, but…what’s your ideal woman like?”
“You’re free to read about it.”
I open my notebook to the page titled “Spouse” and show him. All my future plans are written here.
“What is this, an encyclopedia?!”
His expression slowly hardens as he skims over the page.
“…Whoa. Oh no, no, no… This is just… Wow. I’m…”
“The hell kind of reaction is that? Is it weird?”